As we dig into July it’s got me thinking how hot it’s been all June. While there was a lot of sweat I was fortunate enough to see a lot of fish go into the net (and back in the water). With temps in the mid 90’s I joked today that “it’s been hotter!” Maybe we’re all just adjusting but it could be the 50 to 52 degree water.

In any case, there are lots of happy fish in that cold, oxygen rich, water. I spent one afternoon with two great anglers from our pals at Backwater angler. One of them landed this beautiful rainbow. I’m not going to lie, I haven’t hooked a rainbow all summer so I was excited but a little jealous.

A nice healthy wild rainbow

If you’re headed out, don’t forget those midges and the fluorocarbon tippet. If you need a little more help, don’t hesitate to shoot us an e-mail. We’re happy to help and we’d love to take you and your fishing partners out on the water for the day. It’s the perfect time of year for some fishing and a streamside lunch to help you forget about that long winter we had.

So we’ve been (read “I’ve” been) slow to update. It’s not the worst thing I’ve ever done. On the other end of the spectrum, I’ve been lucky enough to be busy and spending a lot of time on the water. Along the way I’ve been fortunate enough to share the Big Gunpowder Falls fishery with some great folks. In the last week I even got to spend the day with Mike Abramowitz and his fantastic spouse. You all may know him from the Mid Atlantic Fly Fishing Guide and perhaps from being the friendliest guy on the water. A great Family and good friends of CCA, an organization that’s close to my heart, I just had a fun day sharing my view of the Gunpowder with them. While Mike is no stranger to trout fishing, his wonderful wife managed to hook up all day, seemingly without trying!

The Big Gunpowder Falls has finally shaken off the cold wet spring. Flows are back to a manageable level and the Sulfurs are emerging from that long year of rock-crawling to find their mates. I’ve had a few passes from the home-work and caught the spinner-fall and it feels like summer again. The regular crowd has some great stories about big fish lost and landed and, though I’m late to report the news, it’s shandy time at dusk while watching the fish wake up the water’s surface.

While the Knee Deep Schedule is filling up fast we’ve got a couple openings (even this coming Friday). If you’re looking to get out with us, call or email fast! info@kneedeepff.com (202) 681-8765

A refill for my box and enough to get me through a few days of guiding.

Fly selection is a funny thing. I love to share tips and swap flies in the parking lot with my pals. Sometimes, it’s the most basic flies that catch fish. I can remember fishing the Claremont Stretch with my friend John when I was a teenager and him insisting that wet flies were the ticket. Now as I spend my time on the Gunpowder, I find myself swinging wet flies more and more.

Part of why I chose wets is past performance and the other is faith in a particular pattern or two. When a method produces fish, anglers are a hard lot to change. If it worked last time in these conditions, why not this time. I often find myself starting the day with a dry-dropper combo but later swinging wets. If it keeps working, I’ll never change!

My faith in a few simple flies contributes to my style of fishing as well. I tie a few simple soft hackle and caddis patterns that I believe in. My “Fast Caddis” is a winner when swung in tandem and the simple orange or yellow bodied fly with a light colored hackle is a go-to for the sulfur hatch. I believe that having faith in the fly on the end of your line enables you to catch more fish. If you believe in that fly, you’ll work harder to present it to the fish, making sure it drifts or swings perfectly though the strike zone, and taking your time while wading and not getting distracted by “walking” during the swing or by a good cigar that’s threatening to shorten your mustache. If you think the fly will catch fish, and you give it an earnest attempt, you’ll hook up more.

Assembling a box full of tried-and-true flies that you believe in can ensure that you catch fish. Spending the day with a guide who knows the water is a great way to see what secrets are in his box. I bet you’ll be surprised at what you find in there!

Got some time on your hands and want to get out? We’ve got two openings next week. Tuesday and Wednesday are up for grabs and we’d love to show you around our favorite spring spots. Temps are good even if flows are high and it’s a great time to work on your streamer game.

Brown Stones

Spring is here and it’s been a wet one. While drying out, we’ve been getting busier and busier here at Knee Deep Headquarters. It’s time to start thinking wet flies for the spring hatches and streamers are a good bet when the water is high up on the Gunpowder. The sulfur hatch is a ways off but we’ll have Hendricksons, caddis, and stoneflies right now. Every day is different this time of year and we could find ourselves nymphing, swing wets, or tossing big minnow patterns to create our own bite.

We’ll be on the road for the next few days but available. Give us a call to book at (202) 681-8765 or email us at Info@kneedeepff.com

Not only will you have a chance to see the latest in fly fishing gear, you’ll get to sit in on free seminars and lectures by fly fishing’s greatest minds. Oh and don’t forget, rows and rows of the worlds best fly tiers showing you how it’s done and telling some of the biggest “fish stories” if you’re willing to listen. If you need a new rod, this is the place to cast them (go see our friend’s at Mystic) and if you need tying materials, this is the place to find it all (maybe you need a new vise from Peak?).

We’ll be there (maybe just me) and I can’t wait to see you all and hear how your season’s wrapped up and your plans for 2014. Be sure and stop by to say Hello. If you’ve never been, you should score a hotel room nearby and load up a car full of fishing buddies to make the trip with you. You won’t regret it; depending on your carpool buddies.

Fall is here and it’s the perfect time to hit the water and toss some flies. I can’t think of a better time of year to spend in waders while sharing some memories with friends on the water. The fishing has been great with a mixed bag of hatches and weather this month. We’ve seen high water, low water, and even a bit of frost. With a couple warm nights in a row, the tricos will hatch and there’s plenty of baitfish to make streamer fishing exciting.

How about Brad’s fish, Huh? That’s a bruiser. He’s a large guy and even with his size ruining the scale in the photo, there’s no denying that’s a BIG Gunpowder brown trout. Fall is the time to catch the big boys as they come out of their low water – summer- hiding places. There’s less and less traffic on the river so it’s even more relaxing out there. Give us a call or e-mail and we’ll get you on the calendar for a fall outing before the real cold sets in!

PS

Brad, Good luck on the future. We’ll miss you on the river. Thanks for all the great laughs over the past few years! – Micah

It’s been a while since the last Knee Deep update. The fishing has turned around in the last couple weeks. I never thought I’d see a summer where I wished for less rain. Now that the usual southern heat has set in the fishing is a bit more consistent. Caddis, ants, and beetles are on the menu now and will be until the weather cools down again.

We’ve had a great few weeks on the water fishing large Elk Hair Caddis. They are a great fly for covering a lot of water and make a great point fly for a dropper rig. Even fishing a big foam ant, a 6x dropper with a caddis larva has proven to be a wining combo. My ant seemed to receive 25% more takes than my fishing companion’s beetle on Sunday but I thing that could change depending on conditions.

Over on the Potomac the smallmouth fishing has been great. The rain has tapered off and just outside town there is good wading to be found when the Point Of Rocks gauge is below 5,000cfs. Olive and white Clouser Minnows are a good start and poppers fished over openings in the weeds and boulders will bring the exciting surface hits. Speaking of Clousers, check out his FB page for a shot of his new floating minnow. What’s not to love?

Get out there and get your line wet. It’s a great time to break out the swim trunks and get out after work. These long days won’t last forever. If you’re not sure where to start, give Knee Deep a call and we’ll get you into the fish!

Have you signed up for the Knee Deep Fly Fishing newsletter? If you’re not on the list then you never knew about all the deals we’ve had going. There’s a sweet one going for the month of July and we don’t want you to miss out! Click HERE to sign up and never miss out on a good reason to go make some new fishy friends. While you’re at it, LIKE us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. There’s no better way to keep up with Knee Deep Fly Fishing’s regretful social media updates. It’s fun. Trust us!

Speaking of making new friends. This fish has been hiding behind the same rock for weeks now. We want YOU to be the one to hook ‘em! The water is COLD up on the Big Gunpowder falls and we’ve got lots of bugs and sunshine. So what if you’re back from your beach vacation and you’re back in the office. Don’t let the summer fun stop now. Trout not your thing? Give us a call and we can put you on some great smallmouths and have you home for dinner…if you’ve got any energy left to lift a fork. The Potomac River has been fishing great in the mornings and there’s nothing like watching your rod bend while checking out the Bald Eagles flying overhead!

We’ve been putting 3 and 4wt 10’3” rods, from our friends at Mystic, to work for a few weeks now and we’ve had a BLAST with the longer rods. They actually built up a couple fresh rods in a week or so just to get us fishing fast. Talk about a company who gets it! A big thanks to Dennis for making it happen even with the busy spring show schedule.

The extra length means you can reach runs on the far side of the river without wading in and spooking fish. They can tuck a lot of line upstream under the branches while standing on the bank for presenting to the still pools for rising fish too. The 3wt is perfect for putting wet flies in runs on along the other bank all day long. My shoulder was happier with me at the end of the day than if I’d high-sticked with a 9’5wt for hours. I’m not getting old, just a little squeaky in the joints. I felt like I’d borrowed a friend’s rod and was cheating on my usual rig.

I don’t always get to fish when the guide calendar is busy so most of my fishing days are when the weather is rotten. My friends who fish the Gunpowder know that the wind can crank up when it is pushed up and down the river basin. When angling pressure is high, being able to make a longer cast can make a big difference in the number of hook-ups. I pulled out the 4wt last week on such a day last week and was able to load that rod up in the stiff breeze and put my tandem wet-fly rig exactly where I wanted it. It was so much fun that I had to pull out my phone and call my brother to tell him about it. I also had the pleasure of hanging up and stuffing my phone in my waders because I hooked up while talking to him.

In a nutshell, I had a blast trying out these new rods from Mystic. I’m looking forward to a long summer putting them to work. Not a broomstick-stiff 10’ rod that was designed for competition casting but one that was built to cast and catch fish. A little extra tip for anglers like myself who have made an art of busting 7x tippet and light enough to fish all day – these rods are fun. That’s what it’s all about isn’t it? Want to give one a try? Give us a call and we’ll make it happen.

The sulfur hatch is finally going up on The Big Gunpowder Falls. Fishing has been great in the afternoon and into the evening hours. Comparaduns and wet flies are the ticket when the fish are being shy. Fuller style patterns that you can skate on the surface will get you the takes when you see bigger splashy rises. Watch for more on our new favorite rods from from Mystic in the shot below.

SWEET new 10’3″ 4wt from Mystic – this rod is perfect for swinging wet flies on the Gunpowder.

I got to spend Friday morning fishing with first rate angler Tim Worrell, of Timothy Paul Carpets and Textiles , out on the Potomac river for smallmouth bass. Now that the weather has warmed up and the flows are down, it’s the perfect time to wet-wade and soak up some sun. We had a blast swinging Clousers and even flinging a few poppers. To say the fish were hungry would be an understatement. We caught so many fish I lost count! If you’re headed out, look for flows below 6,500cfs on the Point of Rocks gauge. The river is still dropping but there’s a lot of volume and a slip can mean a swim; I proved that one yesterday. Leave the cell phone in the car in case of a swim. Wading boots, swim trunks and a big hat will make the day.

If you need to get out and aren’t sure where to start, give Knee Deep Fly Fishing a call. We can help you hook up and get those lines stretched out. If you’re just starting out, throwing flies to bass on the Potomac is a great way to get a feel for casting and stay cool.